Only 1 hour by car north of Naples lies the sumptuous and elegant palace of Caserta. Parts of the palace interior were seen in "The Phantom Menace" by George Lucas.

It was raining intermittently this Saturday morning in Naples. I got a call from Fabiana about plans to visit an exquisite, ornamented palace built in the style of Versailles. It was called La Reggia di Caserta, or the Palace of Caserta, created by the Dutch architect, Luigi Vanvitelli, in 1752 for the Bourbon kings of Naples and Sicily. With over 1,200 rooms, an English Garden (un Giardino Inglese), an impressive waterfall, and four inner courts measuring more than 3,800 sq.m. each, there was no word to describe the grandeur of this place.

From the palace to the park, we walked down a long garden alley past Baroque fountains and artificial cascades, got lost in the massive English Garden, and logged more than 8km before finding much deserved Italian food in the palace canteen. To visit Caserta was to be transported to an era of refined royalty.